Europe’s water resources seen at risk

ZARAGOZA, Spain

With its cable cars and stylish architecture, Expo Zaragoza 2008 is the pride of this northeastern Spanish city, offering a feel-good theme of water and sustainable development until mid- September.

Boisterous summertime crowds pack sprawling exhibits showcasing liquid natural treasures, from European rivers and lakes to Middle Eastern oases. Local bands rock late into the night.

But there is a sobering message behind Zaragoza’s international fair — growing demand and the climate change wild card are making water an increasingly scarce and fought-after resource, experts say — not just in the Middle East or Africa, but also in places like Spain.

“National and regional governments in Spain have a problem when it comes to water, primarily because of the intensifying competition among agriculture, tourism and urban development, especially along with the coastal areas,” said Kevin Parris, an economist at the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), in Paris.

“And also climate change, which suggests the problem of water scarcity, will increase in the next 20 to 30 years.”

Water scarcity is already a reality across Europe’s Mediterranean region. Cyprus, for example, is facing its worst water shortage in recent history, largely blamed on mismanagement and drought.

Climatologists and environmentalists predict climate change will intensify shortages, bringing ever sparser rainfalls between longer dry spells in the future.

But Europe overall presents a mixed picture, with changing climatic conditions possibly auguring heavy rains and flooding in northern and central areas.

“There will be more disparities — a lot less water in southern Europe and a lot more in northern Europe, where more rainfall is expected,” said Elise Buckle, a climate-change specialist at the Swiss-based International Union for Conservation of Nature.

In Spain, agriculture accounts for about 60 percent of the country’s national water consumption, with the booming tourism and industrial sectors sucking up much of the rest.

Those competing demands intensified earlier this year in the prosperous Catalonia region, hit by its worst drought in 60 years.

Barcelona’s regional government began importing drinking water from Marseille and drafting plans to divert water from the Ebro River, one of the country’s main tributaries. Then spring rains poured down, offering temporary respite.

Spain is scouting out longer-term options. Two desalination plants are up and running, and five more are in the works.

Together, they are expected to supply up to 20 percent of local drinking water in southern Spain in a few years, according to Frederic Certain, managing director for Veolia Agua, which is running one of the plants.

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